By Sue-Ann Wayow
IN the attempted efforts by Paria Fuel Trading Company Ltd to get four underwater divers out of a pipeline, greater collaboration was needed with subcontractor LMCS.
This in addition to firmer timelines and strategic plans.
Chairman of the Commission of Enquiry (CoE) Jerome Lynch, KC, suggested to Paria’s Terminal Operations Manager Collin Piper that in the event of another situation or emergency that those recommendations be followed.
Piper on Thursday continued giving evidence at the International Waterfront Centre, Port-of-Spain.
Earlier in the morning, CoE’s senior counsel Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj took Piper through a detailed timeline of events from the moment the accident occurred at 2.45 pm on February 25, 2022.
In the afternoon, when Piper returned to the witness box, before other attorneys questioned Piper, Lynch asked him about his witness statements paragraphs 80 and 81 which indicated five measures taken through collaboration between LMCS and Paria.
Those five measures included making arrangements for police escort for additional LMCS divers from Carenage to Port-of-Spain, refilling by Paria of LMCS scuba tanks with air, installation of the topside riser at berth #6, removal by LMCS of the blind flange from berth #5, the removal by LMCS of the hyperbaric chamber.
Lynch said, “Realistically, you had but hours, not days we’ve agreed about that, have we not?”
Piper said yes.
Lynch continued, “Once you have that timeline and you have the agreement particularly in this case where LMCS had divers who they were directly related to, this is not some remote individuals, they were people related to them. A man you know for thirty years, his son was in that pipe. Another man whose father was in that pipe. Given those circumstances, working with LMCS on a time scale, to see what could be achieved within that timescale is something, I suggest you could have done with LMCS.”
Piper again said he tried to make attempts to get in touch with Kazim Ali Sr, owner of LMCS but were unsuccessful.
According to the call logs, Piper tried to call Ali Sr first at around 6.30 pm, approximately one hour after Christopher Boodram emerged from the pipe.
During the time, Piper said he was occupied with working with his group, Paria’s Incident Management Team (IMT) of which he leads.
Lynch said he understood that but another person could have made that call.
He said, “All I am trying to do is to understand whether what you are saying in this statement paragraph 81 is a fair representation of what might have been achieved between you and LMCS.”
“I am not blaming you or them, I just want to understand the degree of collaboration that needed to be achieved in order to try an effect a proper rescue,” Lynch added.
He further told Piper, “The point I want to try and raise with you now is looking at the things you did collaboratively, do you not think that it would have been helpful for you as the head of the IMT to have pressed those at the LMCS to come up with a plan that you could probably consider because as I understand it, you never had such a plan or it was never conveyed to you.”
Piper throughout his testimony emphasised the need to do proper assessments and he again did so at that point.
Lynch said, “I accept your assertion that you did not know the conditions in the pipe. The point I am simply making is this. There are a number of potential issues that your yourself raised. Was there a possibility of a second Delta-P? What if the fluids were toxic in some way, a number of potential scenarios, all of which might have been mitigated, you might have said, if its this, can we do that, does it help. If it’s that, can we do something else? Do you follow what I mean?”
“Isn’t that part of your job in the IMT?” he asked Piper.
“Where there are unknowns to take a rational view about what it could be and then have a plan to deal with what could be? Do you regard that as your role?”
Piper agreed yes.
Did you do that? Lynch asked.
Piper said he did that to an extent but without LMCS.
That method should be clear as possible written down on a whiteboard, identifying all potential hazards and potential plans to mitigate them, Lynch said.
“Moving forward, because our job is not just to analyse what happens but what are we going to recommend for the future, do you think that would be the right sort of approach in any scenario like this?” He asked Piper.
“Yes sir,” Piper replied.
Lynch asked, “Any recommendations that we might want to make in a regard like this should reflect that kind of approach?
“Correct,” Piper agreed.
On Thursday afternoon, Piper was also questioned by Seamen and Waterfront Workers Trade Union (SWWTU) attorney Nyree Alfonso.
Attorney for the families of two LMCS divers who died, Prakash Ramadhar also took some time questioning Piper and again had to be cautioned by Lynch for the delivery of his questions.
LMCS lawyer Kamini Persaud-Maraj, Paria’s senior counsel Gilbert Peterson, SC, and Commissioner Gregory Wilson also sought answers from Piper.
Wilson asked, “Did you see any gaps in the IMT that needed addressed.”
Piper responded yes and that they were being addressed.
To date, Piper is the witness to have stayed the longest in the witness box during the CoE’s evidential hearings.
He concluded his evidence just after 5 pm.
The CoE is now adjourned and resumes on January 4, 2023, at 10 am.
